Is Jazz Just For Mature Adults?

While listening to a Branford Marsallis interview on NPR, he stated that jazz is not for young folks. However, I think there are many young people out there who actually enjoy jazz. Here's my story.

It was an unusually hot March afternoon and I was flipping through the radio stations. Most of the urban disc jockeys played the same songs within five minutes of each other and and I wanted to hear something different. I was sixteen years old at the time. So I find this wonderful grassroots station called WWOZ, and the first thing I heard was Latin jazz. I was immediately hooked! And right after that show, I heard a two-hour Brazilian program that was just fantastic! About two hours later, the contemporary jazz program came on. What I heard was very interesting, romantic, melancholic, elegant and at times groovy.

I now have built a personal list of my favorite jazz songs. Most of them are from the classic jazz era but I've included some modern ones too. Here it is:

There are so many more I could list but here are just a few. I think jazz goes perfectly well with some beautiful poetry, fine wine and food, and everything else elegant. But because jazz is so versatile, it can be groovy as well. Imagine tearing into some barbecue ribs while listening to Jimmy Smith. Who says young folks can't get into jazz?